This week’s big Bollywood release, “Fukrey,” (Punjabi slang for good for nothing) is the story of four guys – Hunny (Pulkit Samrat), Choocha (Varun Sharma), Lali (Manjot Singh) and Zafar (Ali Fazal) – who want to make enough money to pay their way into Delhi’s coolest college, which they can’t enter on merit.

The ban on “Aarakshan” (Reservations), director Prakash Jha’s movie about affirmative action in education, has spread to three states, with Andhra Pradesh joining Uttar Pradesh and Punjab to nix the film. Mr. Jha is appealing to the Supreme Court to rule against the bans.

On his blog, actor Amitabh Bachchan, who plays the lead as principal of a small town private university who faces a backlash after his comments about reservations appear in a newspaper, called the reaction to the movie “fascist.”

But is the film good? Read what critics had to say about it. Read More »

The film, produced by the education and health nonprofit Smile Foundation, revolves around a young boy called Chhotu from a small village in Rajasthan, who works at a roadside restaurant to support his poor family.The boy idolizes former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and dreams of becoming like him by studying. Read More »

Actor-director Farhan Akhtar made his directorial debut with “Dil Chahta Hai” (The Heart’s Desire), a film about male bonding and friendship. The movie was a runaway hit.

Now his younger sister Zoya Akhtar, who is also a director, is out with her male bonding movie, “Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara” (You Only Live Once), but this is one is set against the backdrop of a road-trip.

See what critics had to say about the film, which opened today, after the jump. Read More »

Critics seem to have liked ‘Chillar Party,’ the story of a group of kids living in a housing society in Mumbai.

“Chillar Party” (The Small Fry Party), the story of a group of kids living in a housing society in Mumbai who take on a local politician over his campaign against stray dogs, hit Indian cinema screens Friday. Read More »

A still from the movie ‘Delhi Belly,’ which will hit theaters this Friday.

The crime comedy “Delhi Belly” tries to push several envelopes: It’s one of the few English-language Bollywood films backed by a giant marketing machine, the stag-party humor occasionally borders on the perverse, the language could offend certain segments and the plot sometimes gets too convoluted.

That appears to be the point. Subtlety is for wimps, director Abhinay Deo seems to be saying. Read More »

‘Bheja Fry 2′ brings back the character of Bharat Bhushan, played by Vinay Pathak, right, whose idiosyncrasies made the previous film a hit.

Bharat Bhushan is back – complete with his singing aspirations and his quirks. Actor Vinay Pathak, who plays the lead character of Bharat Bhushan, returns with a sequel to the 2007 hit film “Bheja Fry” (Brain Fry) in which he wins himself a free trip on a luxury cruise after winning a TV game show.

Read what the critics had to say about the film after the jump. Read More »

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